Big Sister Knows Best
by KicsterAsh
Summary: Six-year-old Danny is having difficulty sleeping again, no thanks to his father's nightly ghost stories. But as usual, big sister Jasmine has the solution.


_I wrote this one-shot story in April, but decided not to post it in my deviantart account because it was fanfiction. Now, though there may be a few minor errors, I've decided to post it for your entertainment._

_This is what I think the childhood relationship between Danny and his big sister would be like. She did mention in "My Brother's Keeper" that they used to share everything with each other, so I decided to explore that. Enjoy!_

* * *

When she looked at her alarm clock, it was twelve thirty-three at night. It did not happen very often when eight-year-old Jazz got up to go get a glass of water. Normally, she could sleep the entire night through without needing to get up.

Jazz entered the hallway, and already she could hear her father's snores down the other end. She giggled softly at this before descending the stairs and entering the kitchen.

The house was almost dead quiet at night, save the tick-tock from the clock and the soft humming from the refrigerator. Jazz pulled out a glass from the cupboard after pulling out a chair to help her reach it and then poured some water into it from the tap. After gulping it down, she set the cup aside, grabbed a cookie from the cookie jar and ran back out to climb the stairs.

Reaching the second floor, she was just about to enter her room when she heard a soft whimper across the hallway. With a soft gasp, Jazz stopped in her tracks and turned around. Once she had located the room from which the sob had come from, she walked towards it and opened the door.

The sound had definitely come from her little brother's room; and Jazz knew why it had.

"Danny?" she whispered, peeking into the room.

Model airplanes and flying stuffed animals hung from the ceiling around the dark room. A small nightlight with a cover that looked like an angry ghost shimmered in the corner, sweeping the room in an eerie blue glow. The curtains were drawn over the window and a flash light was sitting at the foot of the bed, shining its ray beneath it. The closet door was closed and a chair was stuffed under its handle.

But this was all ordinary to Jazz; it was not the first time she had seen this room set like this, and she knew it certainly would not be the last. She was more concerned about the lump of covers that was sitting on the bed at that moment, whimpering and sobbing quietly.

Jazz sighed quietly and grinned pitifully before walking into the room. "Danny, are you asleep?" she asked.

The whimpering only stopped for a moment. A sniff followed. "No," came a squeaky voice, muffled by the thick blue covers.

Jazz walked up to the bed and stared at the flashlight on the floor. "A bad dream?" she guessed.

"Uh-huh."

The girl smiled and touched the flashlight with her slipper. "Lemme guess; Dad told you another _ghost _story?"

Another sniff came from the covers. "Don't move the flashlight," the voice said in a plea. "It's the only way I'll be brave enough to look under there for ghosties."

Jazz felt pity for her brother and pulled back the covers enough for her to see her little brother's head. "Danny?"

A six-year-old with black hair was curled in a ball beneath the covers, clutching a stuffed tyrannosaurus Rex in his arms. When he looked up, his blue eyes were filled with tears, which slid down his cheeks.

Jazz grinned at him and climbed onto the bed. "Scootch over, Little Bro," she said, making Danny inch away to give her room. She sat down beside him. "How long have you been awake?" she asked.

"I dunno, maybe all night," the six-year-old replied.

"So, right after Dad told you the story, you had a dream and then you were up, huh?"

"… Yeah."

Jazz made sign for him to sit down. Danny reluctantly obeyed, yet he never let his toy go. "I put a chair in front of the closet after Mommy and Daddy went to bed," he announced. "And then I closed the window so that the ghosts don't come in that way either. And then I put my flashlight by my bed. But I forgot to lock my door. So I kept thinking a ghost was gonna come and get me." He looked up at his sister. "But I guess it was just you walkin' around."

"Danny, if you don't like Dad's stories, why don't you just tell him?" Jazz asked. "It would stop all the nightmares you get."

"But then I'd hurt Daddy's feelings," Danny replied. "An' I don't want to hurt his feelings."

Jazz smiled weakly and looked around the room. "Well, I'll give you one thing; you sure know how to make your room ghost-free, Danny," she commented. "I would have _never _thought they could hide under the bed."

A sound coming from outside caused Danny to gasp and look up. He fearfully wrapped his arms around his big sister and buried his face in her pyjamas. "I'm a-scared, Jazz," he whimpered. "I don't like ghosts. Make 'em go away…"

"Don't worry, Danny, the ghosts won't hurt you when I'm here," Jazz replied boldly, rubbing his head. "They don't like big sisters."

"Really?"

"Sure. Ghosts don't like scaring people who aren't scared. And I'm not scared of them."

Danny looked around his room before speaking again. "I don't like bein' scared," he whispered. "I wanna be brave like you, but it's really hard."

"Nope, it's not easy being brave," Jazz replied with a grin. She looked at her brother. "But you'll get there someday. I mean, you're brave enough to eat bugs, and _I'm _not."

At these words, Danny grinned timidly.

"And you don't care if you push me in the mud and get in trouble from Mom. _That's _pretty brave too."

This time, Danny giggled. "That's because you look funny when you gets dirty," he replied. "Girls _always _look funny when they're dirty." He paused and scratched his head. "Except for Sam. She _likes _gettin' dirty."

"That's because she hangs out with you and Tucker, you dummy," Jazz giggled, rubbing her brother's head and making his laugh. She looked around the room again and sighed. "You still scared of goin' to bed?" she wondered.

Danny looked about as well and then nodded worriedly. "A little," he replied.

Jazz let him go and jumped out of the bed. "Wait right here, Little Bro," she said, dashing out of the room. "I'll be right back."

She ran down the hallway and dashed into her room, looking for the music box she got for her birthday from their grandmother. Then, she pulled out her favourite bear, Bearbert Einstein, and dashed back into her brother's room.

Danny watched her run in with curiosity in his eyes. Jazz ran up to the bed and began cranking the music box. "This plays _My favourite things _from the movie _The Sound of Music,"_ Jazz explained. "It makes me feel brave all the time, Danny. It should help with you too."

She set the box down and opened it. Immediately, it began singing the tune in question. Jazz hummed and then sang the first few lines before looking at Danny and smiling.

"I don halfta sing too, do I?" Danny asked with a concerned frown.

Jazz laughed. "No, boys don't sing good," she said, laying him down in bed. "If you wanna stop it, just close the box. And if it stops playing while it's still open, just crank it until it can't turn anymore, and then it'll restart. Okay?"

Danny lay down and stared at the box. He reached out and closed it, and the music stopped. He opened it, and the music began again. He did this three times.

"Danny, you'll break it if you keep doin' that," Jazz said, trying not to sound too stern.

Danny pulled his arm back and clutched his dinosaur. He looked at Jazz. "Is that all?" he asked.

Jazz held up her bear. "Here, you can sleep with Bearbert," she said.

The little boy gasped and grabbed the bear. "You're gonna let me _sleep _with him?" he said in shock.

"Just as long as you don't chew his nose again."

Danny looked at the bear and smiled before hugging it tightly. "He's all warm an' fuzzy an' cuddly," he commented before slipping back under his covers. He looked up at his sister. "Thank you, Jazz."

Jazz smiled back. "What are big sister's for?" she replied she leaned over and kissed him on the head. "Sleep tight, Danny. Hopefully you don't get anymore nightmares about ghosts."

She turned and headed for the door until she stopped and looked at the nightlight. With a frown, she walked over to it. "Well, _this _won't do either," she muttered. She reached down, knowing that her brother was watching her curiously, and pulled the ghost picture off of it, allowing the light to shine white and bright.

Jazz leaned back and smiled proudly. "There, all better!" she said, tossing the ghost cover over her head. "Now, you _definitely _won't get any nightmares."

Danny giggled and cuddled with Bearbert again. "G'night, Jazz," he whispered before closing his eyes.

"Good night, Little Brother."

Jazz walked out the room and closed the door quietly behind her before turning and taking a few steps. But another sound caught her attention and caused her to stop and listen. It was coming once more from her brother's room, but this time, it was not crying:

It was _singing._

Jazz listened as Danny sang along with the music box; then, grinning, she continued on her way. "Sweet Dreams, Danny," she whispered.


End file.
